The Hayling Railway by Robin French

Robin became a member of the website recently. He and his wife, Pat, are railway modellers and collectors of Terrier locomotives with the intention of modelling the branch line.

The following article was written as part of Robin’s research prior to building his model. It includes details useful to railway nodellers.

The Hayling Island Line

The LB&SCR constructed a line to Havant en route for Portsmouth from Chichester, on the 15th March 1847 but seemingly had no apparent interest in constructing a branch southwards towards Hayling Island.

Therefore on 3rd July 1851, local residents succeeded in getting the Hayling Bridge and Causeway Company Act passed through Parliament granting powers to the Duke of Norfolk to build a horse-worked tramway from a junction with the LB&SCR at Havant to Langstone to meet with the road bridge to Hayling Island (which had been purchased by a Mr Padwick who had acquired the manorial rights from the Duke of Norfolk).

The tramway was never built however and the powers granted by the Act lapsed – and in 1859, a second mainline – the Direct Portsmouth Railway was built to Havant from Godalming, (subsequently acquired by the LSWR in the face of fierce opposition from the LBSCR), so again, in 1860, steps were taken to obtain authorisation for a contractors’ line – the Hayling Railway – was obtained by local Hayling Island residents for a single line railway from Havant through Langstone to Hayling Island.This was authorised by the Hayling Railways Act of 23rd July 1860, requiring a crossing of Langstone Harbour, by means of two spurs – 600ft pushing north from the island and a 1000ft spur from the mainland. The intervening ‘gap’ was spanned by a 1,100ft timber viaduct (or some accounts say “370yds” which equals 1,110ft) with a 30ft opening girder section for boats controlled by a cabin on the viaduct itself.

The whole viaduct was on 49 spans on trestle type supports, each cross-supported, that were 25ft above high water.There were 25 piers before the swing bridge, with the power pylon on the left as the railway left Langstone Station (alongside pier No 20) with 24 piers after the swing bridge. The turntable pier measured 18.25ft.There were 24 piers after the swing bridge pier and the viaduct veered slightly to the right at pier number 11 after the swing bridge pier (heading towards Hayling Island line.

Regulations required that boats must not sail through the gap but must tie up at mooring posts before being ‘warped’ through:-

“On a vessel approaching the railway bridge, the Bridgeman will hoist a white flag on the flagpole by day or a white light by night, to show that the vessel has been seen.

If the bridge can be safely opened (i.e. no trains approaching) a black ball shall be raised by day or a green light by night.

When the bridge is actually open, a red flag shall be hoisted by day or a red light by night and shown when the bridge is about to be closed again for trains”.

And it was principally this viaduct that ensured the LBSCR “Terriers” lasted way beyond their normal operational working life, because no other locomotive could match the severe weight restriction of the viaduct.

THE ORIGINAL ROUTEauthorised by the Act was to curve sharply south from Havant Station towards the village of Langstone, crossing Langstone Harbour at its narrowest point, parallel to the existing road bridge. After crossing the viaduct, the line would swing sharply west into shallow waters of Langstone Harbour of an embankment that would have to be built alongside the west shore of the island requiring the reclamation of over 1000 acres of mudflats in the process. The line would then ‘skirt’ the shore to a terminus at Sinah Point – the south-western most tip of Hayling Island.

A considerable length of time was spent forming a Board of Directors, raising the Company’s Capital (£50,000 – of which only £38,564 was ever taken-up) and £11,000 in Loans or Debentures. Consequently, it wasn’t until the Spring of 1863 that work actually started, supervised by Engineers Messrs Hayter & Jay – the Contractor was Mr Frederick Furniss. Progress was slow – with landowners asking “exaggerated” prices for their land and even then, when land was purchased, it was often then found that the growing crops were not included and work couldn’t be started until they were harvested!

Building the embankment on the west side of Hayling Island wasn’t faring so well either, with bad weather destroying any embankment not properly consolidated! Nevertheless, by August 1864, the civil engineers announced that the line could open for goods traffic from Havant as far as the small quay, just 176 yards (8 chains) from the small quay at the northern end of Langstone Bridge. Heartened by this, the Directors obtained authorisation to raise further capital to build an extension from Sinah Point to South Hayling – which would involve building a small port at Sinah Point.

Trains opened to Langstone Harbour (“Langston” from May 1873) for “goods-only” on the 12th January 1865 (some accounts give it the 19th January) and the bridge appeared to have been completed by then; but with initial poor receipts (and not having received any payments for work done so far), the Contractor immediately stopped building the embankment beyond the viaduct that year (1865), with only 176 yards of embankment (“two chains”), constructed northwards off the north end of the island.

There was then a “stand-off” for a year or two. Shareholders’ meetings were called in 1866 & 1867 but adjourned because of an insufficient quorum. When a properly convened meeting did take place in 1868, the shareholders learnt that more had been done than they had known about or even appreciated!Mr Paddick (who had succeeded the Duke of Norfolk upon his death as “Lord of the Manor” of Hayling Island) had bought much of the island through the services of a land-agent called Francis Fuller. Paddick was an enterprising man who could see the island’s potential as a tourist and recreational attraction and concurrently started to build a golf course and a racecourse. He had one big problem however, his new attractions needed good access and transport links to the island – so he virtually took-over the railway company to achieve it!

He had the line re-surveyed, deciding that it would be much simpler to build the line slightly inland rather than on the seashore and reclaiming the salt marshes, so he promptly bought-up any land on the west side of the island that he didn’t already own. On joining the Board of Directors, he got another Act passed on the 12th August 1867 to effect these alterations and so, with better land to build on, the railway contractor very quickly completed the line. The first through passenger train ran on the 28th June 1867 with a halt at North Hayling. (It wascalled “NorthHayling” until 1892 to differentiate it from the terminus that was called “South Hayling” at that time – before it became known as merely “Hayling Island”). Regular train services didn’t however start until 16th July of that year – which just “happened” to be the opening day of the new racecourse – owned by Mr Fuller, or course!!)

As mentioned above, all this wasn’t fully appreciated by the Shareholders at their 1868 meeting – but they now had a railway – although it wasn’t the one they had planned or necessarily wanted! For a start, it was more expensive and more in debt (to Mr Fuller to the tune of £12,000) than they envisaged and soon after that 1868 meeting, Fuller resigned as Chairman of the Board. He did this most probably so the remaining Directors could then vote to repay him his money! Butthe Contractor was also owed a considerable sum of money – not just for building the line but also operating it under his contract to Mr Fuller. In total, the total full debt amount to £82,275 – with only £54,564 Share Capital issued and fully paid-up and a further £21,300 raised for the 1864 extension. This produced an overall deficit of £11,231 and the Official Receiver had to therefore be called in to take over the Company’s affairs – which he did in 1869.

The Company was then managed for a short time by Thomas Eggar (a London lawyer) and a Mr Philip Rose (later to become ‘Sir’ Philip Rose). They obtained further long-term loans and managed to pay-off the Contractor and Creditors to get the Company back out of the Receiver’s hands by 1872. They also negotiated a lease with the LBSCR for them to take charge of all traffic on the line, paying the Hayling Company £2000 p.a. plus £150 for rent. Shortly after that, the Company paid a half-yearly dividend of 5% on its Preference Shares and a smaller percentage of the Ordinary Shares.

In 1874, the Company backed a Bill in Parliament to assign more powers to the LBSCR – but that failed. In 1875, the “e” of “Langstone” was dropped from the name of Langstone Station and in 1882, another attempt was made by the LBSCR for a complete take-over, (that too was unsuccessful and the Hayling Island Railway thus remained independent until “Grouping” in 1923). It wasn’t however until 1892 that trains actually started running to Hayling Island Station (which up to then had always been called “South Hayling” – there being a ‘halt’ at a “North Hayling” station for goods and passengers) on 16th July 1897.

The line was renewed from time to time.The original bridge-type rails gave way to flat bottom track in 1889, being replaced with standard bullhead rails in 1899. Hayling Island terminus building was rebuilt between 1897-1903 but the single-road engine shed was demolished. In 1903, the L.B.S.C.R. renewed all the timbers in the viaduct; an exercise that Southern Railway repeated in 1928. In 1931, the Southern Railway went further and had concrete bases built into the water to provide better support for the trestles.There was a marked increase in holiday traffic in 1937, when the line from London was electrified through to Havant – but then the Second World War came and the Island became a war-zone!

Traffic did ‘pick-up’ after the War but 1948 saw Nationalisation – and the increase usage and popularity of the motorcar! The old wooden viaduct was wearing out and badly in need of replacement – if only to allow bigger and more powerful locomotives to haul the larger coaches carrying the heavier loads of ‘new’ passengers! But the costs involved couldn’t apparently be justified…. To add to the line’s troubles, the old 960 ft road toll-bridge – built in 1824 – was completely rebuilt by the County Council, making access to the island by car much easier. This wooden road bridge had been built on African Oak wood supports (plus other timbers) and it also had a 40ft swing section in the centre to allow for vessels to pass underneath. The 1824 road bridge was described – in it’s time – as “One of the finest structures of its kind in the Kingdom” but motor vehicles had to stop to pay a toll at the bridge to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway – and it could not take heavy loads. Indeed, because the bridge was judged to be so weak, initially only 13 passengers were allowed to stay on the bus, the rest being made to disembark and walk across the bridge whilst the bus crossed the bridge empty (latterly, it is believed when the weight limit was further reduced to only 5 tons, all passengers had to disembark!!)

In 1951, the British Transport Commission (the then owners of the road bridge) presented a Bill to Parliament to build a new bridge to replace the aging wooden one. At the same time as the Commission were promoting their Bill through Parliament, the Hampshire County Council began discussions with the Railway Executive and the Ministry of Transport to ascertain how much compensation the railways wanted in respect of their right to levy tolls and to make a settlement of a Grant towards the costs of constructing the new bridge. The terms were settled and the Ministry of Transport agreed to pay a grant towards the whole cost of the new bridge, allowing the County Council to charge tolls until the sum paid in compensation had been redeemed.

Nothing much happened then until a further inspection in 1954 of the wooden bridge revealed further weakening and the weight limit for vehicles was dropped to no more than 5 tons. Tenders were advertised to build a replacement concrete bridge and these were opened on the 18 October 1954 with Messrs Christiani & Nielson Limited winning the contract with a bid of £283,918 was accepted. The bridge was thus constructed using pre-stressed concrete piles and beams – all of which were cast on site at Langstone Quay. It was built about 70ft east of the old one and virtually parallel. The new concrete two-lane road bridge was formally opened 10th September 1956, rendering the old wooden bridge redundant and it was subsequently demolished. Road tolls however continued until 11th April 1960 to pay the compensation referred to above and what with the delays in collecting the tolls AND the delays with the level crossing at Langstone, it wasn’t unknown for it to take holidaymakers, four hours to get from Hayling Island seafront to Havant on summer weekends!) When the tolls were finally abolished, that truly sounded the final death knell for the railway!

Before leaving the subject of the road bridge, there is also a terrifying story told locally that, during the War, an American G.I. drove a tank across the wooden road bridge not knowing its weight limitations. Everyone watching held their breath until, incredibly he made it to the further shore! Whether that story is really true or not is questionable – (there was obviously a lot of security in those days and the Island was closed to all non-residents) – but certainly the bridge may very well have been able to withstand the weight and the bridge engineers were perhaps being ultra-cautious as to its limitations. Equally, it can also be fairly assumed that the bridge might have been able to withstand one tank but not a daily punishment of that scale – and certainly not two tanks travelling together!!!But it’s a lovely story and undoubtedly nowlost in the midst of time and legend – impossible to ‘prove’ one way or another with all the secrecy surrounding all wartime activities!

Although by 1961 British Railways were needing to run 15 trains each way on summer weekdays and 24 (return trips) on Saturdays (20 on Sundays) to cope with the demand of holidaymakers, the writing was clearly “on the wall”. The road bridge had ‘done for’ the railway! In September 1962 (a year before “Beeching”, please note!) it was announced that complete closure of the line would take place on the 31st December of that year (1962) – principally because £400,000 was estimated was needed to completely replace or rebuild the wooden viaduct. Numerous objections were made necessitating the convening of a Public Enquiry and on the 12th December 1962 a meeting of the Transport Users Consultative Committee was held at Havant Town Hall. There were numerous objections from local people and organisations but they were all ignored – as was the fact that the railway’s income equalled its outgoings. The argument always reverted back to the claim that the cost of repairing Langstone Harbour bridge (and replacing the “ageing” coaching stock) was simply ‘uneconomic’. The result was virtually a fore-gone conclusion and the decision was made to recommend to the Minister of Transport that the railway be closed. It is a fact however, that the “ageing coaching stock” (some of it “Mk1” coaches, built as recently as 1956!), were all subsequently put to use elsewhere on the Southern Region!….

Closure was however deferred until 4th November 1963 and on the 2nd November (the last regular service day) the train was strengthened to 3 coaches (including the “experimental plastic” one built at Eastleigh) to carry all the ‘last time travellers’, and after 2.20pm, the Havant regular service was strengthened to a special half-hourly service requiring two trains and three locos – Nos. “32650”; “32662” & “32670” (the former “Whitechapel”, “Martello” & “Poplar”/“Bodiam” – the latter then being the oldest loco in British Railways stock having been built in December 1872).

All remaining goods wagons were cleared from Hayling by 7.54pm and the last passenger train left Hayling Island at 9pmconsisting of 6 coaches with “32650” at the head and “32662” providing ‘banking’ at the rear. It was 20 minutes late arriving at Havant but the last train to Waterloo (the 9.34pm) had deliberately been held especially for all the Hayling Island passengers.There was however one final train the following day, organised by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain hauled by “32636” & “32670”.After closure, the LBSCR signal at Hayling Island was removed to Clapham Museum; the signalling operated from Langston Bridge signal box was dismantled shortly thereafter and one of the crossing gates at Langston Crossing was severely damage in a road traffic accident and scrapped. The rails were lifted in 1966.

The Route Described:

The line left Havant from a bay platform on the ‘down’ side of Havant’s four-road station and bore sharp right towards the south before crossing a minor road protected by the Havant Signalbox and a level crossing soon after. It then ran down a small cutting past the backs of a row of houses, before the line went into a reverse curve under the one small underbridge carrying the A27 main road. After a short straight, there was then a grey painted footbridge before the line meandered beside a stream before curving sharp left across a second level crossing just before Langston Station. This was 1 mile & 14 chains (1.18 miles) from Havant.

Langston Station was a single, narrow, concrete platform, 200 feet long with a small wooden shelter. On the right, next to the level crossing was a ground frame and the original LBSCR station nameplate was still displayed long into BR’s time. The fact that Langston Station is missing an “e” from the name of the adjacent hamlet (Langstone) is put down (by local repute!) to the carpenter who was detailed to make the name board mis-judging the spacing of the letters and leaving himself insufficient room for the “e” at the end of the station name!!Again, (by local repute), that letter “e” was ‘kicking-around’ in the nearby Keepers’ Cottage for many years thereafter….!

Being single-tracked throughout with no crossing places (and up to four trains per hour using the line), the crossing keeper at Langston Station had a very full day and plenty of motorists in latter years frequently sat fuming, waiting for the train to enter or leave the station!

On leaving the station, the line curved, first left then right, before passing a redundant siding on the left. This originally led to the old Langstone Quay. To the right, more sidings were laid and later removed) leading to where ferry services were run to Brading Harbour from 1882-86. (An ex-Granton to Burntisland / North British Railway ferryboat called “Carrier” was used for this service).As the sea was approached, the viaduct came into view and the train would slow to 20 m.p.h. before venturing onto the timbers. At each end of the viaduct, the Home Signal was left permanently “off” and was only used in the event of the span being opened – a very rare event after the Second World War.

Langstone Viaduct was built entirely of wood, standing on concrete blocks 20ft apart. These carried openwork trestles that bore the weight of the bridge framework, rails and a planked floor. Altogether, it was 320 yards long (960 feet), with a short gap in the middle spanned by a swing bridge to allow tall or high-masted vessels to pass through. As the train reached the north shore of Hayling Island, the remains of the original embankment across the mud flats could be seen off to the right at the southern end of the viaduct (These formed the outer perimeter of the Oysterbeds). Today, it looks more like a firm stretch of shingle (or a sandbar) but the line bore left, heading for firmer ground.

North Hayling Island station was the next station on the route – 2 miles & 40 chains (2.5 miles) from Havant. This was an un-staffed short wooden platform with a small wooden shelter on the ‘down’ side to the track alongside the now abandoned oyster beds and just yards inland from Langstone Bay. The train then closely followed the water edge until the four mile post was reached, where the line ran through open fields before it turned sharp left into Hayling Island Station itself – 4 miles & 50 chains (4.6 miles) from Havant. When just one train was working on the branch, it would arrive in the main platform. The engine would run then round its train ready for the return trip. However, when another train was expected, the first locomotive ran round its train and then shunted its stock into the bay platform to allow the second train into the station.

This station was originally called “South Hayling” (later being called just “Hayling Island”) and it offered good facilities. There are two platforms; the main one had a run-round loop and there was a bay platform that was used when traffic was particularly busy. The small brick station building housed the Booking Hall, Parcels Office, a Staff Room and Toilets – but no Waiting Room!! It was perhaps a good feature that there was usually a spare coach in the bay platform for waiting passengers to take refuge in!

At the other end of the platform was a small hut that stood-in for a signal box (actually, it was more like a covered ground frame!). Above this was the bay platform starter signal, a tall ex-LBSCR lower quadrant signal. For the goods traffic, there were three sidings. A short one to the immediate left as approached from Havant, apparently leading ‘nowhere’; one in the middle that went to a brick-built Goods Shed (now a theatre) and a longer one that ran more-of-less parallel to the loop line where the coaling stage was positioned (alongside the loop line) and at the end of which a solid concrete buffer block behind which was a end-loading dock.Note: there was no facilities to replenish the water tanks – that was done at Havant, where, perversely, there were no coaling facilities…..

LOCOMOTIVES & ROLLING STOCK

The first locomotive used on the line by the Contractor engaged to run the line, was No “1” – a 0-4-2T of unknown manufacturer, with outside 11” x 18” cylinders, a haycock firebox with a box-type saddle tank and 3‘ 6“ coupled wheels.When it eventually developed boiler trouble, it was sold to J.W. Boulton of Ashton-under-Lyne. At the same time, the Contractor also acquired ex-LSWR 4-wheel coaches to operate the rail service.

The second locomotive was No. “2” – also an outside cylindered loco but of a 0-4-0T design built by George England. Later, trailing wheels were added to make it a 0-4-2T but curiously, they were larger than the driving wheels! (3′ instead of2‘10” for the driving wheels). The cylinders were 9½” x 13“. Both these locos were sold to J.W. Boulton before 1871 with Mr. Furniss hiring a third locomotive – a 2-4-0ST – called “Wotton” which was a rebuilt tender locomotive. This was used until the LBSCR took over the operations. “Wotton” was then returned to Boultons.

From 1874, the line was worked by a small 2-4-0T (No. “115” / “Hayling Island”) that had been built by Sharp, Stewart in 1869 and had previously been used on the Kemptown Branch where it was known as No. “96” / “Kemptown”. In 1874, it was replaced by one of the (then ‘new’) “Terriers” and “Kemptown” itself was rebuilt at Brighton Works with Stroudley fittings. It was rebuilt again in 1880 as a 2-4-2 Inspection Saloon – aptly named “Inspector”! – being finally broken up in 1899.

The “Terriers” then dominated the line from 1874 until the final British Railways trains in 1963 – an impressive 89 years! And they did so, because at 28 tons, they were the only locomotive light enough to cross the weak, wooden viaduct across Langston Bay. Designed for the Inner London Suburban Network that called for rapid acceleration and braking, they handled light trains quite efficiently. They weren’t, of course, required to accelerate away smartly on the Hayling Island line and at only 4½ miles long, they also weren’t required to covered long distances between coaling or watering. Neither were they required of fast speeds (the viaduct had a 20mph speed limit as well as a weight restriction). They were therefore ideal for the Hayling Island line. They were simple, easy to maintain & operate locos and although they were briefly joined for a short trial by an ex-SE&CR “P” Class 0-6-0T locomotive, it didn’t last long and was soon withdrawn.

The following “Terriers” have been associated with the Hayling Island line over the years. Those noted in green font have survived into preservation. Those in red font have been scrapped:-

“48”(originally “Leadenhall”) Described as one of the earliest “Terriers” to work the Hayling Island line from around 1890 when it was allocated to Fratton Park but never received a B.R. No. being scrapped in 1901

“79”(originally “Minories”). Briefly allocated to Hayling Island from 1912-1916 but was sold to the Admiralty in 1919 and also never received a B.R. number being scrapped in 1933.

“32635”(originally “Morden”) Allocated to Hayling Island line in 1920, it remained there until the mid 1930s. It then had a chequered career until it was finally scrapped in March 1963

“32636”(The original “Fenchurch” [Formerly No. “72”. It was renumbered with “Bramley’s” number in 1926 – “Bramley” having been sold to Pauling & Co and scrapped in 1909]. “Fenchurch” was principally a Newhaven Dock engine but seemingly worked the Hayling Island line when the resident locos weren’t available. The Bluebell Railway purchased it in May 1964 straight from B.R. stock as their first purchase and it is now preserved on the Bluebell Railway

“32640”(originally “Brighton” /“Newport ”). This didn’t arrive at Hayling Island until 1948, staying only a few months before it was sent to the K&ESR, where it stayed until 1952. It was scheduled for scrapping but fortunately was bought by Butlins for display at their Pwllheli Holiday Camp and ultimately was purchased by the Wight Locomotive Society. It is now preserved on the Isle of Wight Railway

“32643” (originally “Gipsyhill”). This appears to be another very early locomotive on the Hayling Island line from about 1890, which it continued to work until around 1912. After a period attached to Brighton Shed, it was then sold to the Weston, Cleveland & Portishead Railway (where it was renamed/numbered “2” / “Portishead” in 1925. The loco later become the property of the G.W.R. (No. “5”) before it was finally scrapped in 1954.

“32644”(originally “Fulham”) This loco worked the Hayling Island line from about 1933 to 1942 but it was also allocated to the Kent & East Sussex Railway as a substitute for when “Knowle” tipped over under subsided rails. It stayed on the K&ESR until it was finally withdrawn and scrapped within the month (April 1961).

“32646”(originally “Newington” then “646”. It was sold to the L.S.W.R. in 1903 for the Lyme Regis line and was later hired to Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway where it became their No. “2” [FY&NR]. It was then renumbered “W2” / “Freshwater” under S.R. in 1928 before being renumbered again “W8” [still under S.R. ownership on the Isle of Wight Railway]. It remained on the Isle of Wight until 1949 when it was deemed redundant and returned to the mainland – alternating between Newhaven and Fratton Park. During that time, it probably spent about 7½ years on the Hayling Island line until the line closed in 1963. It was then sold to Sadler Railcar Company who later sold it to Brickwoods Brewery who used it for the “Hayling Billy” pub sign where it remained for 13 yrs. In 1979 the successor owners of the brewery donated the loco to the ‘Wight Locomotive Society’ and it is now preserved on the Isle of Wight Railway as “Freshwater”.

“32650”(originally “Whitechapel”). This was bought by the London Borough of Sutton and re-named “Sutton” – becoming the second loo to be named “Sutton” – the original “Sutton”) having been scrapped before the Council could buy it. As “Whitechapel” it first worked the Hayling Island line in 1912 before sale and transfer to the Isle of Wight Railway in 1930 where it was re-named “Freshwater” (later “W9” under S.R.). After a period at Lancing Coach Works, it was sent to Hayling Island in 1953 and remained there until the line closed in 1963. As stated above, it was then purchased by Sutton Council and was initially stored at the K.& E.S.R. but is currently preserved on the Spa Valley Railway.

“32655”(originally “Stepney”). Allocated to Hayling Island between 1920-23, it was then withdrawn and threatened with scrapping but was put back into service on the Hayling Island line in 1927. It also worked the Lee or Solent line and was also occasionally hired to the K.& E.S.R. after 1931. It then spent time between Fratton Park and K.& E.S.R. – helping to haul the last train on that line before closure – before it was sold to the Bluebell Railway in 1960. It is now preserved on the Bluebell Railway)

“32659”(originally “Cheam”) This loco also worked on the Kent & East Sussex Railway in Southern Railway days 1940/1942. It was finally scrapped in 1963.

“32661”(the original “Sutton”) Allocated to Hayling Island line in the 1930s and seemed to have remained there until withdrawal in March 1963 (six months before final closure) but did occasionally act as Pilot at Brighton Works etc.).London Borough of Sutton wanted to buy the locomotive for display at their Civic Centre but it was sold before they could do that and this loco was scrapped in September 1963.

“32662”(originally “Martello”) Another seemingly long-term resident loco of the Hayling Island line from around the mid-20s until it transferred to Newhaven Docks in 1955. In tandem with “32670” it hauled the last train on the K.& E.S.R. on 11th June 1961 before returning to Hayling Island in 1963. When that line closed, Butlins bought it for display at their Ayr Holiday Camp. It was then lent to Bressingham Steam Museum in 1971 and they managed to finally purchase the loco from Butlins in 1989. It is now preservedat Bressingham.

“32664”(originally “Kemptown”) Briefly worked the Hayling Island line from around 1901 until withdrawal in 1902/3 when it was sold and scrapped January 1903.

“32670”(originally “Poplar ”) Sold to Col. Stephens for the Kent & East Sussex Railway where it was named “Bodiam”. Apart from use by British Railways on various lines in the 1950s, it was allocated to the Hayling Island line between 1960-63 when it was then purchased by the K.& E.S.R. upon withdrawal. Now preserved on Kent & East Sussex Railway as “Bodiam”

“32671” (originally “Wapping”) Later sold to the K.& E.S.R. where it was named “Rolvenden / No. 5”. It was eventually cannibalised to keep “Bodiam” running andwas finally scrapped in 1938.

“32673” (originally “Deptford”) Worked the Hayling Island line from 1907-11. Sold to Col. Stephens for his Edge Hill Line in 1919 where it remained until 1925 when that line closed. It then rusted away there before it was finally scrapped in 1948.

“32678”(originally “Knowle”) Sold from an early stage to the Isle of Wight Railway, it returned to the mainland in 1936, overhauled and allocated to Hayling Island in 1937.It was then hired to K&ESR in 1948, staying there until 1954 when that line closed and it returned briefly to Hayling Island in between working at St. Leonards and Newhaven before final withdrawal in 1963. It was then purchased for display at Minehead Holiday Camp beforework was started to preserve the loco.It is now Preserved and working on Kent & East Sussex Railway

COACHES

As above, initially, 4-wheel ex-LSWR coaches were employed and the line subsequently saw a variety of (old) stock used, but after the LBSCR took over operations, they substituted a lot of their own coaches – albeit, 4 wheel ones! Southern Railway continued to use the old, non-corridor, LBSCR stock (and LSWR stock that had also come into their hands) although, latterly, they were on two bogies. In B.R. days, they used all steel standard compartment stock and former S.R. ‘Bulleid’ corridor coaches. Two coaches were the ‘norm’ in winter – 3 or 4 in summer to cope with all the visiting holidaymakers – particularly at weekends.

Following Article on Internet: – (a comment from a subscriber)…..

“In B.R. days, coaches were usually picked by the drivers (as the engines were) who got into work first. First choice was the MK1 Coach with a Bullied Composite Brake. The other unlucky driver (there was only 2 in 1963) took 3 coaches:- 2 ex-Southern Maunsell and a Maunsell Composite Brake. I will probably have 3 BR Maunsell coaches with 2 Composite Brakes”

Another Writes:-

“The coaches were a mixture of types, Maunsell, possibly Bulleid and definitely BR Mk1, although the last were usually the non-corridor compartment types, as made by Replica ?In particular, there was the unique fibre-glass coach but as the Mk1s had no Guard Compartments they were always accompanied by at least one Maunsell Brake Composite. I don’t think the drivers would have much say in the stock they were using! Everything would have been rostered in advance and ready for use when they reported for duty.

Also a word of warning when considering re-numbering the Terriers – assuming you are using the Hornby model because it retains the front sandbox combined with the front splasher and the original short bunker. By BR days all the re-boilered “A1X” Class differed from this arrangement.

There were three different possibilities, simplifying things a bit perhaps.

1) All those rebuilt on the mainland, and some of the Isle of Wight rebuilds, lost their attached front sandboxes, which were replaced by boxes underneath the running plate.

2)All the locos that ran on the Isle of Wight (and after 1961 “32662”) were given an extended bunker for greater coal capacity and

3)some of these had retained their combined front sandboxes.

For authenticity either you will have to remove the front sandboxes or– probably more easily – install the extended bunker that is available I believe from “Golden Arrow”. Your choices “32636” and “32650” will both need their front sandboxes removed, and “650” would also require the extended bunker. “636” (“Fenchurch”) was only an occasional Hayling Island loco – spending most of its time at the other end of the county, at Newhaven or other locations. Perhaps a more sensible choice would be “32640” and “32646” – both of which retained their front sandboxes, and were regulars on the branch and also made it into preservation”.